Finding Him
by harry horror
Summary: Yami Atemu thought finding his hikari was the challenge. Turns out, it was just the warm up. Convincing Yugi Mutou to fall for him isn't going to be as easy as he expected. [Finding You universe]
1. meeting

**A/N:** Fair warning, this is not a full-blown story. Instead, I've written out a few snippets of scenes from _Finding You_ in Yami's perspective. I'll be posting six snippets, one every day until 19 June 2017.

* * *

 **Meeting**  
(takes place before _Finding You_ )

* * *

Yami Atemu didn't know what hit him the first time Yugi Mutou walked into his dressing room. It was mid-January, and after the dueling break of December, he'd been shuffling through his deck, sorting through the cards as he waited for his first duel of his first competition of the year. The staging room was large, probably the largest in the arena – with a seating and dressing area, slick wood floors, and bamboo planters jutting up toward the ceiling – all of it was nod to his title – King of Games. Several feet away, a knock echoed on the door, and he called for the person to enter, glancing up.

The card in his hand crumpled forward as he looked to the man standing in the doorway, the breath stilling in his lungs. It couldn't be.

He'd been waiting his entire life to find his hikari, watched every other yami find happiness with their own. He'd waited twenty-eight years. Twenty-eight years seeking the other half of his soul, tempted by dreams of him, almost consumed by the loneliness of living without him.

And here, of all places.

"Atemu-san, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yugi Mutou," the man – Yugi - said. He bowed, smiling as he straightened. "I'm here to escort you to your duel."

Yami hadn't realized he'd stood, but the next thing he knew, he was moving. He crossed the room in a few long strides, gripping Yugi's arm. Wide, amethyst eyes met his. It couldn't be. After all this time.

"Atemu-san..." Yugi said, smile dropping. He tucked the clipboard he was holding under his arm.

Yami stiffened at the whisper of another conscious against his, the sensation warm, like dozing in the heat of the sun.

"Are you alright?" Yugi said. He was a few inches shorter than him, and he had to lean back, tipping his face up to examine him.

He'd never been the most verbose individual, but as Yami stared down at the man in front of him, his mind was completely and utterly blank.

Yugi attempted to tug his arm free, frowning as Yami tightened his grip.

The panic that surged though him caught the back of his throat. He couldn't let him leave.

"Who are you?" Yami said. The words came out sharper than he'd intended. It couldn't be him. It wasn't possible.

Yugi frowned. "Yugi Mutou…" he said, annunciating the words as if he hadn't quite heard him the first time. "I'm here to escort you to your duel..."

"You are an employee of Industrial Illusions?"

"Yes," Yugi said, "for a few weeks now."

Yami knew he should divert his gaze as Yugi glanced away, clearly uncomfortable. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. Around him. After all this time. His hikari.

The edge of another conscious bumped against his again, bringing with it the confusion and concern of the man standing in front of him.

Yugi glanced up at him, reattempting to tug free of his grip. "We really should get you to your duel."

It took all of his force of will to force his fingers free of Yugi's arm, and the moment his hand swung back to his side, his chest ached from the loss of feedback. Without a physical connection, their link was a thread, a feeble tie that would only grow as time continued.

He frowned as Yugi forced a smile, hating the cordial barrier erected between them. Yugi would not hide from him. Not now, not ever.

"How old are you?" Yami said, annoyed as Yugi's posture stiffened. He was the King of Games, the former pharaoh of Egypt, and he was fumbling like an untried school boy.

"23," Yugi said. "Would you mind if we start heading over to your duel? We're getting close to the start time."

"I'd prefer to speak with you instead," Yami said. He didn't care about the duel. In fact, he'd never step foot in an arena again if it would buy him just a few extra moments with the man in front of him.

"Well..." Yugi faltered, glancing down at his clipboard as if it may hold the answer to the remark hanging between them. "Unfortunately, we do have a schedule to keep."

"Where do you come from, Yugi?" The name rolled off his tongue easily. Gods, he'd waited his whole life to know his hikari's name.

He didn't miss the tightening of Yugi's grip on his clipboard, noting his hikari's reluctance to answer personal questions. The barrier grated on his nerves. _You will not hide from me for long, aibou_.

"Would you mind if we walk and talk?" Yugi said, glancing at his watch. "I've really got to get you to the podium."

The wave of anxiety that crashed over his conscious was tempered by another aura. Yugi. His hikari was troubled by their delay. He, however, was troubled by the idea of his hikari leaving his sight. The terror gripped his lungs, ratcheting tighter as Yugi took a step back into the hall, opening an arm to direct him to the arena.

Perhaps, this was karma, he told himself. He spent so much time chastising Bakura and Mariku on their uncontrolled actions around their hikaris, that he'd never once considered he'd be moved to take such drastic action himself. Faced with the prospect of losing the man in front of him, extreme had taken on a whole new meaning.

"I apologize," Yami said, "but I need a moment."

Yugi's frustration was a sharp jolt in his head, despite the neutral expression on his hikari's face. Ah. It seemed his hikari was practiced in measuring his emotions, though his expression wasn't enough to keep the reality of his feelings from ricocheting down their bond.

"Atemu-san..."

"Yami," Yami corrected. Honorifics served no purpose, not with them, never with them.

"I really need to get you to the duel," Yugi continued. "If it's essential, I can pull you from the slot if you're feeling unwell."

Yami frowned at the professional tone and the guarded posture his hikari had taken, subtle barriers to enforce that, to Yugi, he was nothing more than a stranger. The bite of the realization shook him. He'd spent his entire life believing he felt the pain of being separated from his other half, but to be in the same room with him, separated in every way but physically, opened every barrier he'd once erected to temper the pain, almost bringing him to his knees.

"And what will you do for me?" Yami waited, feeling his hikari's frustration swell _. Come, Yugi. Come out from behind your walls._

"Excuse me?" Yugi said, and if he hadn't been paying attention, he might have missed the sharp edge to the words.

"You've asked something of me," Yami said. "What will you give in return?"

Yugi gripped the clipboard in his hand, as if readying himself to toss it at his head. "I'm just trying to get you to the arena," Yugi said. "We're five minutes late as is."

"You haven't answered my question," Yami said. His hikari's frustration spiked.

"Which was?"

"Where do you come from?" Yami said. His hikari's name was uncommon, but having a birth place to attach to it would get him much more information than a surname.

"I was born in Tokyo," Yugi said, frowning. "Now, please, can we..." He gestured out the door.

He obliged, frustrated as he felt Yugi's conscious slipping from him again. One thing was clear, his hikari had erected enough barriers that even the magic that connected them could not breach. Yami resisted the urge to reach out, taking Yugi's hand. _Patience_ , he reminded himself, he would get nowhere if he tried rushing into his hikari's life. He'd watched the other yamis make the mistake of coming on too strong, too soon, and he wouldn't make the same error.

Instead, he'd grit his teeth. He'd allow the hollowness of their separation fuel him, waiting patiently until the day his hikari accepted the bond between them.

Yugi picked up speed as they made their way down the utility corridor to the arena, and Yami reveled in the brush of consciousness as his hikari urged him forward, annoyed by his unhurried pace. His mother, rest her soul, would have had his head for his rudeness, but he was determined to lure his hikari out of his shell, even if required sparking his anger.

"Atemu-san..." Yugi said, voice tight.

"Yami," Yami corrected again.

His hikari's anger was a bright strike in his head, and he smiled. _There you are_.


	2. sleep

**Sleep  
** ( _Finding You_ Chapter 6)

* * *

The first time Yami held Yugi, it had been raining. He watched the path of rain droplets as they dribbled down his living room window, the cold of February tempered by the man fast asleep at his side. It had taken some cajoling to get his hikari into his apartment, but by the time he'd taken a seat on the couch, Yugi's exhaustion had robbed him of the last bit of stubbornness.

As he'd expected, Yugi had been fighting every step of their progress, digging in his heels every time he pulled him closer. However, even the strongest of hikaris fell prey to the power of the bond. While Yugi tortured himself over their deepening connection, his body rebelled. By the time he'd shown up at his front door, he'd look half ready to pitch over at his feet.

Yami tightened his hold on his hikari, ignoring the call of sleep as he focused on the slow rise and fall of Yugi's breath. He'd spent his entire life waiting to feel the completion that only his hikari could bring, and even while his eyelids drooped, he was determined to soak in the feeling if only a moment longer.

Beside him, Yugi shifted, snuggling closer into his side with a sigh. The feeling of his hikari's contentment was like standing in the light of the sun after emerging from hours of darkness.

He'd never known the true meaning of powerlessness until Yugi had walked into his life. He felt his hikari's pain, his exhaustion, reluctance to deepen their connection, mistrust of his intentions, and he was stuck sitting on the sidelines, easing his way into his hikari's confidence and fighting every instinct to demand that Yugi accept their connection. It would be so much easier that way.

His hikari was as stubborn as a mule, determined to run himself into the ground in order to keep pace with his chaotic work schedule and keep him as far away as possible.

Breathing deep, Yami took in the scent that was distinctly Yugi, trying to commit it to memory. Time would only tell the next time his hikari would let down his walls and let him get so close again. Until then, he'd have to remain content with the knowledge that he'd found his hikari, and no matter how long it took, Yugi would eventually understand his role as his partner.

Yami closed his eyes, allowing his own exhaustion to creep over him. Being separated from his hikari, both mentally and physically, had taken more of a toll than he'd ever expected. His conscious began to blur, the edges bleeding into his hikari's. The feel of Yugi's mind against his own eased every muscle in his body, the world quieting until he'd dropped into sleep.


	3. desperate

**Desperate  
** ( _Finding You,_ between Chapter 10 and 11)

* * *

He had thought he knew loneliness. In fact, he'd spent the first decades of life believing he knew the pain of living without his other half. That was before Yugi, before he'd ever heard his voice, felt his mind against his. Now, he could barely breathe.

It had been three days since Yugi had thrown him out of his office. His hikari had battered down every mental hatch he'd started to loosen the past few weeks, siphoning the link between them to the thinnest of connections. His chest tightened as he played their conversation over in his mind – Yugi's adamant denial of their bond, the look of confusion and then betrayal on his hikari's face, the hard cut of his tone as told him he no longer wanted him in his life.

He leaned back against the bench, the smell of fresias strong under the glass cover of Cyndia Crawford's greenhouse. He was exhausted, the weight of their separation had only just begun, and he was already desperate for guidance.

The light of late afternoon was hot at his back, illuminating the plants and catching the light of Cyndia's blonde hair as she examined the soil in one of the numerous pots on the table. She was as lithe as the stalks of the flowers in front of her, a smock sinched around her waist as she studied a wilting bud.

"Yami," Cyndia said.

He looked up at her, suddenly reminded when she used to tutor him as a child and catch him daydreaming halfway through a lesson.

"You've barely spoken in the past fifteen minutes," she said. "Yet you've come with something to discuss." Turning to face him, she wiped the dirt from her fingers as she watched him.

"Yugi has learned the truth of his role as hikari," he said. "And has since refused to speak with me."

Cyndia folded her hands in her lap, considering him. "How long ago?"

"Three days." The longest three days of his life.

"And you've come seeking advice?" Cyndia said.

Yami nodded.

Cyndia turned back to the plants in front of her, silent for a few moments as she reached out, plucking a weed from the soil. "Have you seen him since?"

Yami dropped his gaze. Given his hikari's reaction, Yugi would not take well to his showing up unannounced. He reached out in instinct, seeking his hikari's mind. Their bond was a sliver of conscious, tethered only by the magic that would link them for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether his hikari ever let him back into his life. His stomach dropped at the thought.

Cyndia met his eyes across the room, frowning. "He has learned a tremendous truth. He will need time as all hikaris have before him."

"It is more difficult than I realized to be apart from him," he said. "I worry he will use this as a wedge to permanently distance himself from me."

Cyndia stood from her stool, stripping her gloves as she took a seat beside him. "The day I told Pegasus he was my hikari, he was the angriest I have ever seen him. He was so upset with me that he got in his car and left without a word."

She glanced over at him. "It was six days before he came home."

"You never mentioned it before," Yami said.

"Some conversions are meant to wait," Cyndia said. "You are used to maneuvering things as you need. It seems this man will not be so easily controlled. Perhaps that is what makes him so suitable for you."

She reached out, patting his shoulder. "Will you stay for dinner?"

Yami nodded.

"Then come inside," she said, standing. "Pegasus will be better served to give you the advice of a hikari."

Glancing down at the stone path below him, Yami shook his head. "I fear my mistake to rush Yugi into this will be one I regret for the rest of my life."

Cyndia looked at him. "When is the last time you've slept?" She sighed at his silence, narrowed eyes scolding him. "Three days I take it?" Cool fingers slid around his arm, tugging him up. "Dinner and then you will sleep."

Yami started to protest, silenced by the look thrown back at him as Cyndia propelled him to the door.

"You will get nowhere with your hikari if you can barely stand," she said. "I won't hear any arguments today."


	4. kiss

**Kiss  
** ( _Finding You,_ Chapter 13)

* * *

The first time he kissed Yugi, he wished it never ended. His hikari's body was warm below him, mouth moving against his with an urgency that excited every molecule in his body. Their connection pulsed with the contact, auras brushing together. After more than a week of separation, the sensation practically leveled him.

Yugi's arms wound around his neck, leveraging the angle, pressing up as he rocked against him. The urgency of his hikari's response urged him closer, attempting to fill the hole that had grown in Yugi's absence.

For a fleeting moment, he wished it never ended, to skip ahead to a time when his hikari finally trusted him enough to let him in, when moments like these are no longer bends in his hikari's will but a desire to be closer.

Yugi's hands unfurled from his neck, warm palms pressing against his shoulders as he retreated from him again.

It took a moment before he could force himself away, leaning back just slightly to search his hikari's flushed face. He leaned back down, pausing as Yugi shook his head.

"Yami, stop," Yugi said. "Wait - "

His stomach tightened at the breathless slip of his name. "You said my name."

Yugi let out a long breath. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate of me."

He frowned as his hikari attempted to reestablish a facade of formality, leaning in closer, reveling in the touch of their chests as he brushed his lips against Yugi's ear. "Say it again."

"I'm not - "

He pressed a kiss to the skin below Yugi's ear, nibbling on the lobe. The sudden rush of his hikari's arousal ricocheted down their bond as Yugi pressed back against the mattress, tense as he tried to distance himself.


	5. drunk

**Drunk  
** ( _Finding You,_ Chapter 16)

* * *

His hikari was drunk. It was past midnight, and the hallway was silent as they reached the top of the steps of Yugi's apartment building. Despite his hikari's dismal tolerance for alcohol, he hadn't quite anticipated the evening's turn of events when he'd gone to the bar to meet him a few hours earlier. Then again, given the way Yugi was leaning on him as they reached the top of the stairs, he couldn't complain.

It hadn't taken many days of working with him to realize just how hard Yugi pushed himself. Not only was he usually uninterested in eating or drinking much of anything, but he didn't seem to be sleeping at all anymore. Such a breakneck pace wasn't sustainable, and made only more frustrating by his hikari's refusal to open up to him anymore than necessary. The constant state of not knowing what was going on in Yugi's head was driving him up the wall.

He reached into Yugi's pocket for his house keys, earning an indignant look as his hikari asked what he was doing.

"I need your keys," he said.

His hikari frowned, digging in his pocket. "I can do it myself."

Yugi fumbled with the keys, attempting the lock for with shaky fingers for a few moments before he reached out, closing his fingers around his hikari's, guiding him to the lock. He hit the light as the door swung open, ushering Yugi inside.

"I'm tired," Yugi announced, dropping his keys, holding himself steady on the wall as he walked further into the apartment.

Following, Yami caught hold of his arm as he started to tilt to one side. "You should sleep," he said. In fact, if he could get some physical proof his hikari got a solid nights rest, maybe he could get some of his own.

"I just have to - " Yugi said, stopping as he looked up at him. His eyes widened. "You probably shouldn't be here."

Yami smiled, bemused. This would prove interesting. "Why is that?"

"Because!" Yugi said, leaning in closer. "You think all this stuff about me, and then we kissed, and - we really shouldn't have done that."

He pushed the hair from his hikari's eyes, drawing his hand down the side of his face to tilt his head up to meet his eyes.

"Why not?" Yami said. _Come, aibou. Tell me your secrets._

"Because!" Yugi huffed. "I told you a zillion times that I have to be professional!"

"I think it's a little late for professional tonight," Yami said, fanning his thumb down his hikari's cheek. Being so close to him was an aphrodisiac, the barriers of Yugi's mind loosened by the alcohol, aura brushing his, unguarded. He resisted the urge to give into the sensation. No matter how much he desired the complete union of their minds, he refused to breach his hikari's trust by intruding into his thoughts without his consent.

"I am the epitome of professional!" Yugi said. He tipped forward, catching himself on his chest, fingers curling in his shirt. "I am just really tired right now though."

Yami studied his hikari as he looked up at him with wide, bleary eyes. He ignored the tightening of his stomach. It would be so easy to lean down and...

He froze as his hikari stumbled forward, pressing his lips against his.

Every muscle in his body stood to attention as Yugi stepped closer, the heat of his body warm against his. But it wasn't the kiss that had him hesitating, it was his hikari's mind. His consciousness was completely open to him. The jumble of thoughts and emotions were intangible and would be until their bond truly came to maturity or they were connected by the puzzle, but the total surrender of what Yugi protected so closely felt like an unintended trespass.

His hikari's aura surrounded him, pulling him in, as Yugi touched his tongue to his bottom lip. The depth of Yugi's desire was a ghost against his conscious, bottomless and unapologetic, and so at odds from the front he'd been hiding behind the past few months.

He parted his lips, trying to keep himself in control, to pull his mind away and honor his hikari's right to privacy, but he couldn't. He needed more.

Reaching up, he cupped the side of Yugi's face, slanting his mouth over his as he took control of the kiss. He slid a hand through his hikari's hair, pulling him into him and reveling at the spike of longing that flowed from his hikari's mind to his.

Yugi wanted this. He wanted more, and Yami was more than happy to oblige. After so much running, so many road blocks, Yugi did feel for him, more strongly than he could have ever expected.

 _He's also drunk_. The thought was a wet blanket on his excitement. His hikari was clearly in no position to make any decisions. But he couldn't stop. He couldn't go back to the constant state of worry, never knowing what his hikari was thinking, how he felt about him, whether he was taking care of himself. After so many months, he couldn't wait any longer.

He jerked away, refusing to let the thoughts continue. He would not take advantage of Yugi's trust in him, not now, not ever.

Yugi looked at him, cheeks flushed, shirt askew, blinking up at him with wide eyes that only served to tempt him back to his side. The longing was so clear, if not on Yugi's face, then in his mind, his aura close to his, coaxing him back to his side.

He needed to go.

He backed away, holding up an arm as Yugi stepped closer, shaking his head and dropping his eyes. If he looked at him, he wouldn't be able to leave.

"I apologize," Yami said. "But I must say goodnight." He turned on his heel, hearing his hikari's call for him, but he kept going. He locked the door behind him, stepping out into the hall. Breathing deep, he struggled to catch hold of himself. He thought he knew the siren call of his hikari, but this was something else entirely. To turn away from Yugi, so clearly asking for him, was more difficult than he could have ever realized.


	6. progress

**Progress  
** ( _Finding You_ , between Chapter 20 and 21)

* * *

Why his hikari refused to allow him to get his job back was beyond him. Yami watched Yugi from across the room as his fingers flew across the keys of his laptop, engrossed in his job search. It had been two weeks since Mazaki had released him from Industrial Illusions, citing his and Yugi's relationship as a conflict of interest and a violation of his employment contract. It would only take a word to Pegasus, and Yugi would be back in his office. Hell, he could be running the whole department, but his hikari refused.

Yugi's melancholy was a ghost against his conscious, a subtle reminder that the mental barrier between them had been weakening since the moment Yugi had confessed his feelings for him in his kitchen two weeks earlier. Their bond was still weak, but as long as his hikari consented to stay by his side, the stronger their link would grow. He allowed Yugi's aura to lull the frustration from his grip. His hikari had already made great strides towards furthering their relationship, and it would do no good to try to push him even more by forcing him to accept his help.

"Why does Malik Ishtar want me to come over to his apartment next week?" Yugi said. He'd ceased typing, eyeing him over his laptop.

"He mentioned wanting to speak with you," Yami said. "Why?"

"He just emailed me," Yugi said. "Does this have to do with the puzzle?"

Yami shrugged. "Perhaps you should speak with him and find out."

Yugi slumped back against the sofa, closing his eyes. "You're going to make this as difficult as possible, aren't you?"

"How so?"

Yugi opened an eye, glaring at him. "You know."

"Know?"

His hikari ruffled, aura striking bright against his own as he sat up. "You're still trying to convince me about this hikari thing," he said, "and you're using Malik to help."

Yami smiled, shrugging again. "Malik is a good friend to have, as is Ryou. They both have many connections in Ozu, any of which could assist in your job search."

"I…you…" Yugi stopped, huffing as he got to his feet. "I have to go."

His smile dropped as Yugi gathered up his things. He'd known his hikari was headed back to Domino for the night to meet with his childhood best friend, but he was less than thrilled by the separation. It had been twelve days since they'd spent the night apart, and he'd spend the entire evening tossing and turning until his hikari was wrapped up against his side again.

Things in hand, Yugi rounded the coffee table to his chair, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

Yami grabbed his hikari's arm, pulling him back down to press his lips against his own. With each day that passed, it took less and less persuading to coax his hikari to lessen his grip on the chatter in his mind and simply feel the connection between them. He tugged Yugi toward him, reaching out to take his laptop from his hands, depositing it on the end table, as his hikari allowed him to pull him on top of him, straddling his thighs. The kiss deepened, his hikari's light warm in his veins as Yugi's tongue touched his.

After a few moments, Yugi turned his head, sighing as he dropped his forehead onto his shoulder. "I'm going to miss my train."

Yami tightened his grip around him, urging himself to relax. One evening was nothing compared to the separation they'd endured from the earliest moments of their bond, but after so many days with him by his side, a few hours suddenly felt endless.

Sitting back, Yugi pressed a final kiss to his lips, sliding out of his grip and reaching over to pick up his laptop. "I'll text you."

He sat back, watching his hikari slip his laptop into his bag, before offering a wave and heading toward the door. When the front door closed, he sighed, waiting for the inevitable fade of his hikari's mind from his. It took longer than he expected for Yugi's mind to branch, and almost an hour had passed by the time he no longer felt his hikari's conscious strong against his own.

 _Progress_ , he realized. It had taken several months, all of his patience and a good mix of luck, but his hikari was finally beginning to let him in.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading!


End file.
